Exploring the impact of competition and consolidation on Canadian SME farm businesses’ ability to create value

Mergers and acquisitions in the agricultural input supply, food processing, and grocery retail sectors have resulted in high levels of concentration in food supply chains, leading to a power asymmetry between the consolidated large firms in these stages and the smaller farms in the primary production stage. This project will explore whether concentration in farmers’ upstream markets (agricultural input supply) and downstream markets (processing) may influence producers’ ability to be entrepreneurial. The Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project (CAMP), a new not-for-profit organization seeking progressive competition policy reform, has identified the agriculture sector as a priority for its advocacy work and requires data and market insight to provide recommendations to policymakers. Semi-structured interviews will explore the conditions under which farmers are able to create value and will provide qualitative information about the connection between competition and entrepreneurship in Canadian agriculture, Findings will allow CAMP to address an underexplored area of competition policy reform.

Faculty Supervisor:

Statia Elliot

Student:

Partner:

Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

University of Guelph

Program: